Welcome Back GCCISD!
08/31/2022

Welcome back, GCCISD!

 

We are only a few weeks into the 2022-2023 school year, and what a difference a year makes! We are so thankful that you chose Goose Creek CISD and we will continue to do our best to provide our students and staff with the tools they need to succeed. Our first day of school on August 10th was exciting!

 

Our families were met with the smiling faces of campus staff as their student entered school. Though we saw a few tears (from the parents), our students seemed eager and ready to learn; which is a great thing! We want our students to not look at school as a place of dread, but a place of GIANT possibilities.

 â€śRandal

We provide many GIANT academic opportunities for our students in Goose Creek. This school year, we debuted three new pre-K academies for our tiniest learners. The Early Learning Academy opened at the district’s three newest campuses: Shelia C. Liles Early Learning Academy, Jessie Lee Pumphrey Elementary School and San Jacinto Elementary School. This academy, in partnership with Fueling Brains, uses a research-led approach to provide pre-K students with the knowledge and skills to start on the road to success. The dual two-way language program opened at Alamo, Ashbel Smith and Harlem Elementary Schools. This program is an enriched educational model that integrates native English and Spanish speakers in the same classroom to promote second language acquisition, high academic achievement and cross-cultural understanding. And lastly, the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) program, housed at Austin and Walker Elementary Schools, prepares pre-K students to be life-long thinkers, creators and doers by immersing them in daily, hands-on STEAM activities. Our hope is that the students in pre-K academies will matriculate into one of the 10 career academies our district provides for high school students in the near future.

 

School safety remains a top priority for Goose Creek. Over the summer, the district hosted a reunification training in partnership with the Harris County Department of Education. From this training, the district implemented the “I Love U Guys” Foundation Standard Response Protocol (SRP). The SRP is based on an all-hazards approach as to safety. Students and staff will be training, practicing and drilling this protocol on an on-going basis. We cannot underestimate the presence of law enforcement in our schools. The Goose Creek CISD Police department are present and active in our schools and within the Baytown and Highlands communities. We are so excited that we will be welcoming six new officers to the ranks within the next few months; bringing the total to close to 30.

 

Our School Board, who works hard every day for our district, received their flowers this summer. The Board was recognized as the Region IV Honor Board in late May and a few months later, they were notified that they made the top five of the state Honor Boards and are in the running for the Board of the Year! I cannot thank them for all that they have done for us and they are so deserving of this honor. The winner will be announced during the TASA/TASB conference in late September; but no matter the outcome, we applaud the efforts of our Board and thank them for continuing to put the students and staff first.

 

I want to congratulate the district on earning an overall rating of 89 (B) for the 2021-2022 school year; which is a two-point increase from the 2018-2019 school year. In addition, the district received a 92 (A) for school progress in the relative performance subdomain. This measures how a school’s performance compares to other schools with similar economically disadvantaged populations. We are so proud of our four campuses that earned an overall A rating. They include Lamar, San Jacinto and Victoria Walker Elementary School and the IMPACT Early College High School. The district also earned 57 Distinction Designations; which is an increase from 14 during 2018-2019. Though we were one point from the elusive “A” overall rating, I have no doubt that our educators and students will work even harder to get the academic credit they deserve.

 

Thank you again, Goose Creek CISD community, for allowing us to educate your children. They are our most precious assets and the more we invest in them financially, academically and emotionally, the better we all will be as a city, state and nation.

 

To stay up on all things Goose Creek, please make sure to follow us on social media, download our mobile app, visit our website, and subscribe to our monthly journal.

 

As our 2022-2023 district video says, “To be a GIANT, you must first grow here.” (If you haven’t seen the video, please view it here: Growing Giants ) We thank you for being a major part of this district and allowing us to prepare today’s giants for tomorrow’s world.

 

Here’s to another great school year! 

 

Dr. Randal O'Brien

Superintendent of Schools